Blessed by Night-Chapter 462: I’m Trying to Do The Right Thing

Malachi was getting tired of ending up naked in front of other people.

If he didn’t know god was currently asleep, he would think it was all a very sick and twisted cosmic joke at his expense.

He willed the shadows to cover his figure and replicate the clothes that had just burned up moments ago.

When his junk was no longer grazing the concrete, he looked down at his palm and the two flames swirling around in it.

Demons could do lots of things, Mal was learning. Archdemons even more so.

But apparently, they had just as many restrictions and things that were detrimental to their health.

Malachi had begun to feel a tad bit foolish. If anyone had taken precautions against a potentially malevolent supernatural force, then it would certainly be a shaman.

"I hope I didn’t give either of you too much of a scare just then... I wasn’t really expecting for-"

"You are Oni now. You were not like this before." The old woman pointed at him.

Malachi found himself rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah, this is.. kind of a new development."

He put both of his hands down and stared at the pair with a somewhat dejected look on his face.

"Look, I know what you’re probably thinkin’, but I promise that I don’t mean either of you no harm."

Shoto discreetly leaned over to whisper in his grandmother’s ear.

"You know... he did kind of treat me really nice when I was in captivity. I had my own room, and his wife even let me borrow her manga! I couldn’t really read it since it was in English, but the pictures were nice."

The old woman raised her cane and smacked her grandson over the head. "I told you to stop reading that degenerate stuff... it rots your damn brain!"

"I-It wasn’t an H-Manga, it was just shounen!"

That was a lie. Bianca is also quite the degenerate reader, and most of her manga reflected that value.

Mistrust continued to show on the face of the old woman. Malachi honestly couldn’t say he blamed her, even if he himself knew that he was the farthest thing from dangerous.

He stood up slowly so as not to arouse any anxiety in the old woman. She watched his every move with a careful precision that went far beyond her years. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"...Are you afraid of me?"

"That seems like a silly question to ask, doesn’t it? Demons from the west are known for their cunning words, charming appearances, and malicious intentions."

"Can’t really argue with you there... but I’m not like that. I promise. We don’t have to go inside, but there is something I really need to talk to both of you about."

The serious tone within Malachi’s voice was perhaps what helped to reach Shoto’s grandmother.

She maintained a healthy suspicion of everything that he did and said, but she did not seem terribly convinced that he wasn’t going to try and bite her head off at any moment for any reason.

Malachi paused in the middle of talking when he saw what appeared to be a pink aura surrounding her mind.

"Uhh... you got some... actually, I dunno what that is."

The old woman’s eyes widened slightly, as if she were surprised that Malachi could see her little trick.

"...It is just a little bit of insurance. One can never guard the mind too closely when it comes to demons, you know? I do hope you aren’t offended, but my safety does take precedence."

Shoto nud"Granny, what about my mind..?"

"After all of the trouble you’ve caused, I doubt that there is very much for him to take advantage of."

"Mean..."

Malachi was unsure if he was supposed to laugh or offer up a prayer for poor Shoto in this situation.

He checked their surroundings for a fifth time since the conversation began to make sure no one was eavesdropping on them.

He even released a small electromagnetic pulse from his body to short out any cameras or recording devices in the area.

Only once he was sure that nothing he said would be heard by anyone else did he speak. "So, uh... about those tests we were running."

Malachi wasn’t even sure if the words were falling out of his mouth in the correct order. It was only now hitting him just how much he was compromising by going down this path.

If it were ever discovered what he was doing here today, he could have been court martialed. Likely even jailed.

Then what was going to happen to his family?

Everyone was excited about Joanne’s fertility. They were so ready to welcome a new baby into the family.

His best friend and his sister were staying with them. Malachi was getting to spend real, quality time with his nephews for the first time in their entire lives.

Was he willing to risk all of that, to leave it all hanging in jeopardy, just for the life of this one person he barely even knew?

He was no longer certain. His speech slowly began to falter. He was unaware of just how much he had already said.

"...Why would you tell us this?"

Malachi’s eyes refocused.

The first thing that his vision processed was the white knuckled grip shared between family members.

The disbelieving, confused look in their eyes was undercut by a clear anxiety.

Malachi couldn’t say what happened then. But he did know that looking at the pair of them hardened him in a way.

He couldn’t feel that same regret in his mind from before. He could hear the echoes of everything that could possibly go wrong.

His resolve was like iron.

"I guess... because I have daughters. Two, or I guess three now... every day I think about how I can make sure they see me as a man to be proud of. It’s all that matters to me.

And when I think about them... I wonder if the way that they look at me would change if they knew I helped kill someone whose only crime was his potential.

I’m telling you all of this because I can relate to you, Shoto. You’re powerful and that will make people scared. But their fear shouldn’t affect your life the way it has mine.

Most of all... I’m telling you because if I didn’t, I don’t know that I would ever be able to forgive myself."